The programme
Over a cup of soup, we’ll explore how to create a more welcoming and inclusive environment within our faculty. Together with Slava Greenberg, Kevin Eng, Marijke Scheffener, Mona Hegazy, Lisa Lepp, and moderator Glenpherd Martinus, we’ll discuss what accessibility means in practice and how diverse perspectives can be better integrated into academic life. 

Our speakers will share their personal experiences of faculty accessibility and offer insights into what’s working and where improvements are still needed. Moderator Glenpherd Martinus, programme manager at ECHO - Centre for Diversity Policy, will provide a brief introduction to key concepts like diversity, equal opportunities, and inclusion, and how these relate to accessibility. 

The session will also highlight current faculty efforts to enhance accessibility and diversity, and offer participants a chance to share their own ideas and contribute to creating a more inclusive academic space. The conversation will take place in three languages: English, Dutch, and Sign Language of the Netherlands (NGT).

Don’t miss this opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue and help shape the future of our faculty! 

More information about this programme and the speakers can be found down below! 

About the Speakers: 

Kevin Eng: Kevin Eng is a student participant of the Diversity Sounding Board for the Faculty of Humanities, and is on the Faculty Student Council, plus the Programme Committee of Global Arts, Culture & Politics. He is interested in diversity, equity and inclusion, as well as discussions on decolonization, and is excited to contribute on topics regarding accessibility (especially from the perspective of Global South students).

Slava Greenberg: Slava Greenberg is an Assistant Professor of Film in the Department of Media Studies. His research and practice, grounded in disability studies (particularly Crip theory and Mad studies), transgender studies, and feminist film theory, concern the potential of emerging media forms to produce embodied transformative experiences for audiences. Greenberg is the author of Animated Film and Disability: Cripping Spectatorship (Indiana University Press, 2023), which won the 2024 ASCA Book Award. Currently, he is writing his second book, Gender Dysphoria: An Unauthorized Biography, which examines the trans-crip histories and cultures of dysphoria from the Reed Erickson papers to contemporary pop representations.

Mona Hegazy: Mona Hegazy has been teaching Arabic Literature and Language in the Department of Arabic Language and Culture at the UvA since 2007. In addition to her teaching, she has been actively involved in diversity and safety efforts within the Faculty of Humanities since 2020, contributing to initiatives that aim to foster a more inclusive and secure academic environment.

Lisa Lepp: Lisa Lepp is a former student at the UvA and has been working as a PhD candidate at Tilburg University in the Department of Cognitive Science and Artificial Intelligence. She has been invited to serve as a panel speaker for the discussion on social and physical accessibility within the faculty. Her contribution will draw from her personal experiences as a late-deafened former student at the University of Amsterdam, as well as her current work with the Special Inclusive Group—a diverse team of teachers, experts, and policymakers working to make education at Tilburg University more accessible. Additionally, she will share insights from her experience as a teacher at Koninklijke Kentalis College in Zaltbommel, where she taught deaf refugees last year. She looks forward to engaging in this important conversation.

Glenpherd Martinus: as an interdisciplinary humanities scholar in training, archivist, and aspiring curator, Glenpherd Martinus is currently deepening his knowledge from a decolonial perspective. By connecting personal (hi)stories, articulating values, and honouring diverse forms of knowing, he strives to co-develop paradigms that facilitate meaningful artistic and cultural exchanges as a pathway towards sustainable, equitable, and meaningful livelihoods for communities relegated to the margins. Born and raised on Curaçao, Glenpherd is acutely aware of the need for transformative and impactful approaches to address issues at the nexus of art, culture, ecology, and identity. 

Marijke Scheffener:  Marijke Scheffener works as a teacher of Dutch Sign Language at the UvA and is deaf herself. Because of this, she often encounters limitations. An example: when a fire alarm goes off, she cannot hear it. And many other examples can be named that she encounters in daily life. On websites, for instance, you often have to leave a phone number when creating an account, otherwise it can't go through. Marijke would like to join and think along for a more accessible (academic) environment.

Practical information 

The programme takes place at VOX-POP (BG3 - ground floor).
We start at 17:00 and it lasts until 19:00. Doors are open from 16:30. Free soup, snacks and drinks are included. 

The Admission is free, but due to limited spots we ask you to register via the form.

About the partners

VOX-POP partners with the faculty's Diversity Office and Diversity Talks. Diversity Talks is a non-profit organisation that has been working towards more diverse and inclusive education in the Netherlands since 2019. 

Diversity Month

This meeting marks the start of a month of various workshops and events all aimed at increasing accessibility at the faculty. This includes physical accessibility, but also social accessibility.

Instead of a single Diversity Day, we are devoting the whole month of October to diversity, with a focus on accessibility. The theme is taken broadly, focusing on both physical and social accessibility.The aim is to better understand the issues surrounding diversity and inclusion and use this knowledge for future policy. Although we cannot solve or discuss all the issues in one month, we hope to take the first steps towards a more accessible and inclusive faculty through this dialogue. More about this programme follows soon.